by Rohini Chowdhury

"Mamma," says Vidisha,
"You know the Invisnible Giant?
Well - he has come to stay."
"Oh no!" says Vipasha, "That means disaster!"
She gathers her books and flees
To the relative safety of her room
Where only dainty fairies float
On clouds of pink and purple dreams.

"Will he behave himself, you think?"
I ask Vidisha with a worried frown.
"Drink his milk? Make his bed?
Get ready for school on time?"
Vidisha gives me a crushing look,
"What do you think?" she says.
And walks off to welcome Invisnible in.

Invisnible follows me all around,
Hiding in corners, under the stairs.
Often he is good and does my chores,
Humming gently beneath his breath
Like a busy vacuum cleaner,
Because he cannot speak, of course!

But when instead of that happy hum
I hear a grumble,
I know that trouble's coming up.
Somehow that day
Everything goes funny -
We have milk on the carpet,
Jam in our hair,
Paint on our party frocks
And toothpaste on the stairs.

Vidisha looks quite fed up,
When Invisnible misbehaves.
She doesn't know quite what to do
Till Vipasha says
"TV of course!"
So we switch on the television,
And sit Invisnible down in front.
We quietly skulk away upstairs,
Knowing he will not follow us,
Because more than trouble, more than friends,
Invisnible loves the Box!

Vidisha heaves a tired sigh
"I wish he'd behave," she says
"I get so tired cleaning up
The mess he makes!"
Vipasha throws up her hands
"You love the mess!" she cries.
"I don't! I do get tired!"
Says Vidi with a fierce frown.
Vipasha runs away before
Invisnible comes upstairs!

Vidisha looks mournful,
"Don't make him go away.
I know he can be a bother,
But please, Ma, can he stay?"
I try to look stern and cannot,
Though I am fed up too,
Clearing up the chaos
That Invisnible creates.
"A few more days perhaps," I say.
"But he must be good or else!"
"Okay!" says Vidisha
And settles into bed,
Happy that her friend has been
Forgiven for the day.

At last the house is peaceful,
The children fast asleep.
But I can hear the TV still
"Ah! Invisnible," I think.
I walk into the TV room,
I find it in a mess!
And from the bean bag in the corner,
I hear
A happy
Humming
Snore!!